Come Away With Me
by girlNmaroon
Summary: Elliot and Olivia try to work things out away from home. EO!
1. The Crib

"Elliot, I always back you up! I needed you to stick up for me in there!" Olivia shouts as she flings the door open from Cragen's office. 

"Liv, I -" Elliot tries, chasing after her.

"You what? You punish for months because I left, then you gang up with Cragen and Huang to send me away?"

The indignation in her voice makes Elliot rethink his tactics. He takes her by the elbow, surprised when she doesn't resist, and guides her into the crib. He sits her down on a bunk in the corner, protecting them, protecting _her_, from prying eyes. He knows some things are going to have to be laid out on the line here, and he is nervous. He is not concerned by her wild eyes, her flaring nostrils, but instead by her sudden submissiveness. 

_Olivia Benson is scared to death_, he realizes.

"Liv, hear me out. I know how much SVU means to you. I get that. But I won't sit around and watch you fall apart at the seams. You need - " 

"How the hell do you know what I need? You don't even -" 

"Stop interrupting! I SWEAR! It's like trying to talk sense into a five-year old!"

"A WHAT?!?! I am NOT your child, Stabler," Olivia grinds out through her clenched teeth.

_Whoops. Wrong thing to say, clearly. Her last-naming me is a bad sign._

"That's not what I meant, I, I just...Okay. I think that you have...no, we have _both_ had a rough time lately. And we're taking it out on each other. I don't want to do that. I don't wanna fight anymore, Olivia," Elliot pleads.

Her expression shifts from anger into one he never wants to be the cause of ever again: hurt.

"So you want to send me away? I, I don't know if I can, um..." Olivia stumbles over words, not quite sure how to express her needs to him.  
_  
For him. God, how pathetic was she? He wants to get rid of her, and here she is, trying to cling to him._

"Nobody's sending you anywhere," Elliot states as he begins rubbing her shoulder. She shudders at the warmth of his touch. "Nobody's sending you anywhere, baby."

_Baby._

That's all it took for her to break. She starts sobbing out loud, crying tears she's held in all her life. He gathers her into his arms, cradling her, holding her, protecting her from all the things she's been running from. He kisses the top of her head, only slightly surprised at how easily this intimacy came to them.

"'Livia, I just want to make sure you're okay," Elliot mumbles against the crown of her head. "I worry about you so damn much and I don't know what to do. I just want you whole, Liv. I just want you happy." 

She thinks this over as she sniffles, sorting through the possibilities. His soothing touch has stopped her tears. Avoidance has served her well in the past, but damnit, she doesn't want to keep sidestepping them for the next eight years. For the life of her, she has no idea what she needs to say next. She has no idea what she _will _say next.

"Come away with me," she blurts. _Whoa. That's certainly not avoidance._ "I know I need some time away, but so do you. And I need my best friend to help me sort all this out. I need you there with me. I won't be happy alone, somewhere away from you."

He pulls back, and she winces at the loss of him. What had she done? But then, he takes her by the upper arms, his baby blues searching her big brown eyes for the truthfulness of her statement. Whatever it is he sees in her, he seems pleased.

"You really mean that, don't you? You actually need me?" Elliot asks.

She runs her hand along his jaw line, traces his worry lines, his strong nose. She takes a moment, gathering strength for what needs to be said. She never realized how deep his insecurities ran, never thought he couldn't see just how much she relied on him. She knew it was her fault, that for all her independence, she had shoved him away to a point where he had almost stopped shoving back.

"Of course I do, El. And I want you there, too. You, you're my world Elliot, and if I'm gonna do this, if I'm gonna get past this and start all over, I wanna do it with you. I - I love you," she says softly, honestly.

His eyes went wide, just for a second, and then became watery. She knows him so well. Olivia could just sense that he would need to hear those three words first.

"I love you, too, Liv. I love you so much," Elliot says as he pulls her back against his chest. "God, I love you, too."

They sit there in silence, just listening to each other breathe for a long time.

"Hey, El?"

"Yeah, Liv?"

"You planning on kissing me anytime soon?" she asks with a laugh in her voice. 

He slowly pulls back to look her in the eye. He smiles warmly at her, love shining in his eyes.

"You want me to kiss you?"

"Yeah. Very much so."

He could feel her in his soul, even though his lips had not yet found hers. It was as if his heart was one step ahead of his body. His head felt light, as if he were dizzy, as he looked at her face. She had just given him permission to kiss her.

It was the slightest of touches, and yet it felt like finally coming home. He could hardly comprehend that for all the years, all the fights in the precinct, all the silent conversations looking at each other across a room, it was Olivia he was finally kissing. His arm snaked around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. They fit together perfectly. 

She settles her fingers against his cheeks, keeping him in place. She opens her mouth to him, and his tongue moved deep inside her. He finally understands what she meant when she said she needed him. They were finally whole, because the only thing they had ever been missing was each other.

It was as if everything had been leading up to this moment. Truthfully, it probably was. Eight years of partnership in so many ways, all building up to this, their completion. As if all their actions had brought them to the inevitable.

Sitting there in a room that now would only hold the best of memories, they explored each other. Their kisses were gentle, loving in one moment, then rough, demanding, bruising the next. They were breathing only each other. He only needed her, and she him.

He pulls away suddenly. She looks at him through a haze of desire, confused as to why he stopped.

"So, where are we gonna go for this vacation?"

_Come away with me and we'll kiss  
On a mountaintop.  
Come away with me  
And I'll never stop loving you.  
-Norah Jones_

(TBC)


	2. Now Boarding

**A/N Here's Chapter 2! I worked hard on this one, especially considering I don't have a beta :( Let me know if you're up for the task!**

**And a big thank you to the girls SVUFans for being so supportive!**

In the end, it was Elliot who chose their destination. Olivia just couldn't decide on a place that was good enough for him. She wanted somewhere far away, where they didn't have to be themselves. Some place that was exotic, where Detectives Benson and Stabler didn't exist, where detectives didn't exist.

She wanted some place close to home, because the people that they were in New York City were the people that they had fallen in love with. She would never really want to abandon who they had been the past eight years.

She seriously considered just hiding in her apartment with him for weeks on end, existing off of takeout and each other's presence. And yet, that wasn't good enough, either. She wanted to live with him, and for him, not just exist.

So he had picked the place he thought might help her pick up the pieces of herself. A place that might be tough for her to take him to, tough to explain to him, but a place that he knew she had a deep desire to come back to, if only for a while.

Oregon.

They were waiting to board the plane now, hours after Elliot came to pick her up. When he arrived, she hadn't had a thing packed. He panicked, thinking of a myriad of miserable situations, all of them ending in the same conclusion. She didn't want him like he wanted her.

She had seen all of that pass through his eyes, and quickly dispelled all of his fears with a swift kiss to his lips, asking him against his mouth if he wouldn't mind helping her pack. After all, she said, he was keeping the trip details a secret, and how was a girl to choose clothes when she didn't have a clue where she was going?

Instantly calmed by her touch, he'd smirked and started up a banter with her, teasing her about things like how much clothing she had, how Fin probably still had twice as much, and the like. Things had always been easy around her, before all this, and he was thankful that this ease was returning.

So thankful, in fact, that he decided to tell her where they were headed.

"We're going to Oregon."

"What...why, Elliot?" In an instant, the look of hurt was on her face again, possibly more intense than three days ago. He couldn't think of a word to say in response, and she took his silence to mean the worst possible scenario she could think of. "I thought...I mean...Are you still mad at me? Are you punishing me?"

The way her voice cracked, the uncertainty in her eyes, it all served to stop that immediate response of reassurance. His failure to speak only compounded her fear until he was sure someone would call security on them.

No, Liv, I'd never do that to you. I'm not mad, this is for you. I love you and I'm only trying to help you. He wanted to take it all back, exchange the plane tickets for somewhere stereotypically romantic, like Paris, or the Bahamas. Screw fixing things. Forget his ridiculous idea that she needed this to reclaim herself. Sweep her up and take her back to his place, tuck her in safely and lock her away from the world. Anything not to hurt her.

"No." His voice was steadier than expected. "No, Liv, this isn't anything bad. I want to go there with you this time. I think we need this."

"I wasn't happy there! I don't want to go back!" Olivia protested. They could both detect the lack of conviction in her words, however, and Elliot was relieved to know that he hadn't been wrong. Her reticence was actually a good thing, he figured. She had kicked into partner mode, and was, for whatever reason, trying to protect him.

"Liv, you don't really believe that," he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. She ducked her head. "Look at me, 'Livia," he said as he cupped her chin. "I want to see how you were away from all the rules. See what helped you break down some of your barriers. I know it wasn't the best time for either of us, but don't you think it's time to put the past to rest?"

God, yes. She seemed to relax, just a bit, but she remained silent.

"You must have liked some things. The tea, for example." She laughed, and something inside him settled. He figured that if he could make her happy right now, ease her fears for just this moment, they would work on everything else later. Together. He smirked, his cocky demeanor restored for the time being. "On second thought, maybe I should take you to Seattle. Or South America. Get some coffee back in your system."

"Promise me something," she requested with nothing but seriousness etched on her face.

"Anything, Liv."

"You'll learn to recycle."

A huge laugh burst from Elliot, and he kissed her softly on the lips. As they enjoyed their lighthearted moment with each other, an announcement came over the system informing them that Flight 231 to Eugene, Oregon was now boarding.

Elliot sighed, searching her eyes. Olivia smiled and gave him a wink. He grabbed her hand, laced his fingers through hers, and together they boarded the plane.


End file.
